MANHATTAN BEACH – A 50-year-old man is in the hospital after a 7-foot great white shark bit him Saturday morning near the south side of the Manhattan Beach pier.

Steven Robles of Lomita was swimming from the Hermosa Beach pier to the Manhattan Beach pier with a dozen fellow members of the Southern California Aquatics swim team when he was attacked at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

He was taken to Harbor General Hospital Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and is expected to survive, according to Los Angeles County lifeguards. With assistance from the Manhattan Beach Police Department, lifeguards evacuated the beach, then reopened it later in the afternoon.

The shark had been hooked by a pier fisherman approximately 45 minutes earlier and was still on the line when it attacked Robles, according to several witnesses.

“We had stopped at the Eighth Street buoy to regroup and had just started swimming again when I heard Steve screaming about five feet ahead of me,” said SCAQ swimmer Mary Ellen Koetsier-Farr, a registered nurse. “When I reached him, Nader (Nejadhashemi) and Susan (Brilliant) were holding him up. Nader said he’d been bit.

“I knew Steve was breathing because he was screaming. So, I looked under the water and saw he was bleeding heavily from his chest area. But there were no bubbles coming out, so at least I knew his lungs weren’t punctured,” Koetsier-Farr said.

“We were screaming for help and having trouble keeping Steve afloat,” she said. “That’s when Nader saw a stand-up paddler and yelled at the paddler to give us his board. If Nader hadn’t had the presence of mind to do that I don’t know what would have happened.”

The unidentified paddler quickly came over, jumped off and helped slide Robles onto the board.

“Then a bunch of surfers came over and we all started pushing Steve toward shore,” Koetsier-Farr said. “When we reached the waves zone, we were having trouble keeping Steve on the board. But then a lifeguard arrived and put him on a rescue board.”

Los Angeles County lifeguard Chris Malone was patrolling the beach in a truck when he heard people screaming that there had been a shark attack. Malone raced into the water with his rescue board and brought Robles to shore.

“When Steve got to shore I was able to see his wounds. It looked like he been sliced with a dozen knives,” Koetsier-Farr said.

The Manhattan Beach Fire Department paramedics treated Robles for large cuts on the right side of his chest, under his ribcage and on his right hand.

Hermosa Beach resident Justin Hoot said he was working at a surf rental shop in a nearby parking lot when he and co-workers “heard the most bloodcurdling scream” for about 30 seconds, he said. “Then we heard the word ‘shark.’”

Hoot said that as his co-worker ran to alert the lifeguard, he grabbed a surfboard and ran to the water. He paddled out to Robles, joining several others attempting to help him. As they lifted him onto a soft-top paddle board, Robles remained conscious and screamed from the pain, Hoot said.

Manhattan Beach residents Lance Nelson and James Kaiser, both 13, were surfing south of the pier when the shark attacked.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.